A Bishop for Our Time: Henry Edward Cardinal Manning -- Lecture 2

To read my post on Lecture 1 go here.  

On to Lecture 2!

In his second lecture on The Present Crisis in the Holy See, Cardinal Manning focuses on the nature of the Antichrist. At the time, some writers claimed that the Antichrist would not be an individual person, but a corporate group or spirit. Refuting that belief, the cardinal looked to the number of Apostles, Fathers of the Church, etc. who disputed that interpretation. He quotes St. Robert Bellarmine saying, “All Catholics hold that Antichrist will be one individual person.”

Interestingly, Manning offers the opinon of many scholars that the Antichrist will come from the Jewish race:

...the Fathers, with unanimous consent, teach as undoubted, that Antichrist will be a Jew.2 Ribera repeats the same opinion, and adds that Aretas, St. Bede, Haymo, St. Anselm, and Rupert affirm that for this reason the tribe of Dan is not numbered among those who are sealed in the Apocalypse.3 Wiegas says the same, quoting other authorities.4 And this will appear probable, if we consider that the Antichrist will come to deceive the Jews, according to the prophecy of our Lord: “I am come in My Father's name, and you receive Me not : another will come in his own name, him you will receive;” which words are interpreted by the Fathers with one consent of the false Messias, who shall pass himself off upon the Jews as the true. And this, again, is the unanimous interpretation of the Fathers, both of the East and of the West, as St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St. Ephrem Syrus, St. Gregory Nazianzen, St. Gregory Nyssen, St. John Damascene, and also of St. Irenaeus, St. Cyprian, St. Jerome, St. Ambrose, and St. Augustine.https://www.britannica.com/topic/spiritualism-religion

The fact that the Jews still await the Messiah lends credence to interpretation of the Fathers: 

The probability of this also will appear, if we consider, further, that a false Christ would fail of the first condition of success if he were not of the house of David; that the Jews are still looking out for his coming; that they have prepared themselves for delusion by crucifying the true Messias; and therefore it is that the Fathers interpret of the true Messias and the false the words of St. Paul to the Thessalonians: “Because they received not the love of the truth (tnv dyātmv Tijs dOméetas), that they might be saved; therefore God shall send them the operation of error (évépyelav radvms) to believe lying.5 

Now, I think no one can consider the dispersion and providential preservation of the Jews among all nations of the world, the indestructible vitality of their race, without believing that they are reserved for some future action of His judgment and grace. And this is foretold again and again in the New Testament; for instance, in the Epistles to the Romans and the Corinthians.6

Cardinal Manning wrote during a time when spiritualism was rampant with mediums, seances, and all manner of trying to contact the dead or read the future, a popular pastime. You can read more about the spiritualist movement here. 

An interesting bit of trivia is that Harry Houdini, the famous escape artist, debunked the spiritualists accusing them of defrauding grieving families. 

Manning's purpose in discussing the movement is to illustrate the increasing belief in the spirit world, something which had been debunked in the past by atheists and other non-believers. He was certainly not praising witchcraft, but the increasing recognition of the afterlife:

I cannot but perceive a wonderful change which has passed upon the world. Half a century ago the men who rejected Christianity derided a belief in witchcraft as superstition, and in miracles as foolishness. But now the world has out stripped even the faith of Christians by its credulity. Europe and America are deluged by Spiritualism. I know not how many hundreds and thousands of mediums between us and the unseen world are in existence. The very men who would not permit the witch of Endor, or Elymas the sorcerer, to pass without ridicule, believe in table-turning and table rapping, in clairvoyance, and the communications of spirits evoked from the world unseen; in spirit writing, and locomotion through the air, and in the apparition of hands, and even of persons. Revelation of the state of the dead, of secrets among the living, prolonged and repeated colloquies with the departed, are not only believed, but practised habitually, and almost day by day. 

Now it is not my object, at least not now, to appreciate these phenomena. It is enough for us to say, that to us who believe in an unseen world and in the presence and warfare of spirits, good and evil, such things present no difficulty. We are not disposed to deny their reality because of the falsehood or delusion which is mixed up with them. They are precisely what the Church has always condemned and forbidden under the name of witchcraft: in which there is a real preternatural agency surrounded by much imposture. I dwell on this point because it is certain that we are encompassed by a supernatural order, of which part is divine, and part is diabolical. It is not wonderful that they who reject the divine super natural order should become immoderately credulous of the diabolical. Now in this we have already a preparation for the deception of which St. Paul writes. The age is ripe for a delusion. It will not believe the miracles of the saints, but it will copiously drink down the phenomena of spiritualism. A successful medium might well pass himself off by his preternatural endowments as the promised Messias, and “signs and lying wonders” in abundance may be wrought by the agencies which are already abroad in the world.

Consider the popularity of the New Age movement these days. Many believe in witchcraft and cast spells. Wiccan covens with woodland meetings during the full moon occur and adherents write about it on social media. On several occasions I met young people while I was sidewalk counseling outside abortion facilities who told me they were witches. Devil worshipers have raised statues to Baphomet in public places. Some put their faith in the power of crystals, pentagrams, stangs, and other symbols.  You can see clearly that we are in an age similar to the era in which Cardinal Manning was writing. The world seems eagerly to wait for the Antichrist, even with the help of the Vatican.

The final point in lecture two is the nature of the Antichrist when he appears. 

St. Irenaeus says that “Antichrist being an apostate and a robber, will claim to be adored as God,” and “that he will endeavour to show himself off as God.”4 Lactantius, that “he will call himself God.”5 The writer under the name of St. Ambrose says, “He will affirm himself to be God.” St. Jerome, “He will call himself God, and claim to be worshiped by all.”6 St. John Chrysostom, “He will profess himself to be the God of all, and call himself and show himself off as God.”7 So also Theodoret, Theophylact, Ecumenius, St. Anselm, and many others."8 

Suarez [Spanish Jesuit theologian 1548-1617 often compared to St. Thomas Aquinas], in explaining this passage, says, “It is likely that Antichrist will in no way believe himself what he will teach and compel others to believe. For though in the beginning he may persuade the Jews that he is the Messias and is sent from God, and may pretend to believe that the law of Moses is true and to be observed, yet he will do all this in dissimulation, to deceive them and to obtain supreme power. For afterwards he will reject the law of Moses, and will deny the true God who gave it. For which reason many believe that he will craftily destroy idolatry in order to deceive the Jews.” “How great his perfidy will be, and what he will really believe concerning God, we cannot conjecture. But it is likely that he will be an atheist, and will deny both reward and punishment in another life, and will venerate only the preternatural being, from whom he has learned the art of deceit and acquired his riches by which wealth he will obtain supreme power.”9

Manning ends the lecture pointing out what saints have said throughout history. The battle is between good and evil, between God and Lucifer. We are not living in a Star War movie, however, where Good and Evil are equal forces vying for victory. the heresy of Manichaeism. St. Augustine was taken in by it for a time, but repented and became a hero for truth. No, the outcome of the war in the heavens is not a mystery to Catholics. But the time of the final battle and the final victory are unknown. We know not the day nor the hour. We do, however, see humanity taking sides with the division more and more pronounced across the globe. As Cardinal Manning says:

...to those who believe that the world may be divided into Christian and Antichristian, or Catholic and Anticatholic, - or, in other words, into the natural order, based upon the mere human will and action, and the supernatural, based on the Divine will and the Incarnation of God, - it will at once be seen to be the question most vital and decisive of all. I shall hope to show hereafter that the antagonism between two persons is an antagonism also between two societies, and that as our Divine Lord is the Head and Representative of all the truth and justice of the world from the beginning, so Antichrist, be he who or what he may, will be the head and representative of all the falsehood and wrong, which has been accumulating for these 1800 years, in the heresies, schisms, spiritual seditions, intellectual infidelities, social disorders, and political revolutions of the anti catholic movement of the world. 

Such is the great deep upon which the Christian society of the world is resting....no one with any discernment can fail to see that it is deeper, mightier, and more widely spread now than ever. That this antichristian power will one day find its head, and for a time prevail in this world, is certain from prophecy. But this cannot be until “he who holdeth” shall be taken out of the way. This, however, is the next subject in our order, and I must not anticipate it here.

Will the crisis "find its head" in our time and will we see it "prevail in this world." Has "he who holdeth" been "taken out of the way" already? Once again we affirm that Scripture says we will not know "the day or the hour." It is imperative then to be always ready. St. Ignatius, in his meditation on the two standards, prepares us for battle. We need to put on the armor of Christ as St. Paul tells us in Ephesians and "stand firm on the evil day." The Cross is our battle standard; "Viva Cristo Rey!" is our battle cry. "Be not afraid," as Pope John Paul II said. "Pray, hope and don't worry," as St. Pio reminded us. God wins! There is no excuse for discouragement or cowardice.